Hunting Gollum
by xthinkxhappyxthoughtsx
Summary: Aragorn is set the task of finding the creature Gollum, it takes almost a year and a lot can happen during that time. And Gollum really doesnt want to be found. Yes i realise that the summary sucks but the stories good, RR
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer, I own none of the characters in this story, with the possibility of any elves that I may introduce later on depending if I can find the names of any that Tolkien created and lived in Mirkwood.  
  
Summary: The tale of what happens to Aragorn on his hunt for Gollum before the War of the Ring.  
  
Aragorn bent closer to the ground looking for any sign of the creature Gollum.  
  
He and Gandalf had been tracking the creature for years. Through Rhovanion, across the Wilderlands and even within sight of the black gates and the mountains of shadow but still they had seen no sign of the creature.  
  
Finally Gandalf had given up on the search and had left it in the hands of Aragorn while the wizard himself had gone to study the ancient scrolls of Gondor.  
  
And now Aragorn himself was tiring of the hunt. Gandalf had left him at the lonely mountain as the trail there had been very old and he had lost hope of finding the creature. The ranger hadn't given up though; he had tracked the creature back through Mirkwood and had come to the Misty Mountains. He had expected the trail to lead to the Shire, but it hadn't, instead it had turned south at the mountains and now Aragorn was tracking it towards the Dimrill Dale, at the moment the tracks were very old and he was stuck for where to go next.  
  
"Damn" he swore as he stood up again, at a loss for where to turn now. Finally he decided to give up for the night and go to bed, meaning to have another attempt the next morning.  
  
Sadly the wargs had other ideas.  
  
No sooner had the tired ranger settled down for some rest than a loud howling came to his ears. Groaning and muttering something like  
  
"Why does Ilúvatar hate me?" he grabbed his sword, got up and waited for the approaching threat. He didn't have to wait long; soon he could see the shadowy shapes of at least five wargs coming towards him.  
  
With a growl the nearest shape leapt, only to impale himself on the point of Aragorn's sword. Spinning quickly Aragorn turned to relieve a second beast of its head, only to have another of the creatures slam into his side.  
  
Turning with great difficulty under the dead weight that had just landed on him, and was attempting to relieve the ranger of several of his body parts, Aragorn managed to thrust the blade into the animals open snarling mouth. With great difficulty he heaved the evil wolf off him, just in time to dodge the last two of the hounds that had leapt at him.  
  
Ducking under the jump of one of the leaping animals he ran his sword through the creature's stomach and turned, panting slightly to the last, and unfortunately, biggest warg that was snarling fiercely at him.  
  
Sighing slightly Aragorn waited for the warg to attack and he was not disappointed. As the wolf leapt at him, he dodged to the side and quickly stabbed the foul beast in the side. Leaning on his sword he looked around the camp for any signs that there were any creatures left, luckily they were all dead and the ranger could breathe again.  
  
All thoughts of sleeping gone, the man quickly searched for a likely tree, and on finding one that seemed ideal he quickly built a makeshift flet and pulled himself up the tree keeping a sharp eye out for any more impending danger. He could not stay awake for long though, and fell asleep in mere minutes, fortunately no more danger approached that night and when morning came he was refreshed and ready for another day of probably futile tracking.  
  
Looking quickly around the campsite Aragorn quickly picked up the old tracks, and whether it was due to the nights sleep, or his desire to get away from the apprehensive peace of the Dimrill Dale he finally found where the trail led. Smiling to himself, pleased at finally finding the way to go, the ranger quickly picked up his belongings and left the area before any more creatures of darkness saw fit to attack him. And knowing his luck, the human thought, that was really quite a likely event to occur.  
  
As he tracked the beast he found his thoughts getting stranger and stranger as he got more and more bored. At one point he found himself wondering what it was like to be grass.  
  
//I don't think I'd like it really, imagine people walking all over you all day, it must be very painful.\\  
  
Stopping his thoughts to crouch down and check the direction of the large splay-footed prints that he was following he changed his bearing slightly, then picked up his train off thoughts where he had left off.  
  
//I wonder what Gandalf's doing right now, typical, he leaves me to track elusive creatures all over the place but I bet he's sitting in Gondor, eating or smoking right now.\\  
  
Mentally kicking himself for his bizarre thoughts he looked around as he reached the edge of a stream, trying to determine which way to go. The tracks definitely went into the water, he thought, but did the slimy creature cross the stream or did he walk down it?  
  
Walking to the other side of the shallow water he looked both ways trying to decide which way to go. As he looked to his left he thought he saw a slight indent in the mud in that direction.  
  
When he reached it he saw indeed that it was another of the webbed footprints, encouraged now that the chase was becoming easier he once more picked up the trail. Several hours later though he kicked himself physically this time for tempting fate so badly. He had reached the borders of a wood and the trail vanished at the foot of a tree.  
  
//Damnit\\ he swore to himself, yet again, //how on Arda was he going to find the creatures tracks now; it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack\\  
  
Searching for a tree that was both tall enough to show him his surroundings, and large enough to support his weight he climbed one that seemed suitable and glanced around the countryside for anything that could help him.  
  
As he spotted a nearby village he started to climb down, meaning to leisurely approach the settlement to see if they had seen any signs of his prey. Unhappily though the fates still seemed to be against him having an easy life as, on reaching the ground he heard a scream and another all to familiar howl coming from the direction of the hamlet.  
  
Breaking into a sprint he ran towards the sound of the disturbance, drawing his sword as he went.  
  
(A/N, well that's the first chapter done, please review, I know some people were complaining about my falling into M.E story being crap, and although I disagree as I'm having fun writing it, I wanted to write something more serious now and then I had this idea and so here is the result. I hope you like it.) 


	2. Wargs, Wargs and more wargs

(Hello I'm writing the second chapter while my brother and one of his friends is downstairs drinking before they go to some concert thing. I hate his friend, he is an arsehole, he also bullies my younger brother but there you go. Anyway I doubt that you really care so here is the second chapter. Enjoy.)  
  
As he reached the area Aragorn's fears were confirmed as he saw that the village did indeed have a warg problem. Chaos was ensuing, women and children were running around screaming, men were attempting to kill the wargs but they did not have many weapons and they were losing quite badly.  
  
Running quickly into the fray of things, he started fighting the attacking creatures immediately. Scanning the area he hurriedly he counted the number of animals. As far he could see there were fifteen of the animals. As he ran his blade through one of the beasts he turned to see one man about to have his head snapped off by another one of the wolves. Running up to the man he rapidly removed said wolves head before it had time to decapitate the human.  
  
Not staying to hear the man's thanks he quickly ran off to another warg that was chasing a small boy, quickly killing that one also he continued battling the creatures. Some ten minutes later a man to the left of him succeeded in killing the last animal and Aragorn once more leant on his elvish blade to survey the scene around him.  
  
The dead bodies of the wargs littered the tiny settlement but miraculously there only seemed to be two villagers injured and none dead. Running over to the two injured people Aragorn tried to force his way through the villagers that were crowding around those hurt.  
  
"Excuse me, I have some skill as a healer, I may be able to help"  
  
He said, as he finally reached the two men and the woman that was bending over them trying to bandage there wounds. The woman seemed wary of the ranger and then another man pushed forward.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing in our village?" he questioned suspiciously.  
  
"My name is Strider, I am a ranger, I was passing through yonder woods when I heard the noise of your attack and came to help. As I said I have some skill at healing people and will gladly help with the injured. The man glanced warily at the ranger, as if summing up the risks in his head before nodding and saying.  
  
"Alright, thanks for your help" turning to several men that were standing watching he gave orders for them to carry the injured into a nearby building and he and Aragorn followed them in.  
  
(A/N another of my brothers friends have arrived and their moaning at me for singing along with my music to loudly and disturbing them cause they are trying to get wasted. Then they wouldn't give me a beer so I had to drink my last Smirnoff instead. Oh well back to the story)  
  
After receiving some bandages and water from the man, who he guessed was the head of the village; Aragorn quickly cleaned and bandaged the wounds. Luckily they weren't too deep or dangerous but he used some of his herbs to be on the safe side in case of infection. When he had finished he left the two men with their families who had come into the building to make sure that the men were well.  
  
The village leader came up to him as he left the building and said to the ranger.  
  
"Thanks for your help Strider, we've had a bit of bad luck recently, it would be a sore blow to have anyone killed because of the wargs, as well.  
  
At the mention of bad news Aragorn stopped and stared at the man.  
  
"Can I ask what this bad news was; it might very well be what I was looking for?"  
  
"A black shadow, like a small creature came to our village, it crept in through several windows of the house and stole children from at least four cradles before we discovered it, then it ran off onto the wasteland in that direction" he said sadly in memory of the children lost, and pointing in a south east direction. Thanking the man for the information Aragorn ran in the direction of that he had pointed in, much to the astonishment of the informant. Before the startled man could say anything the ranger had crouched to the floor, brushed something with his fingers and took of at a run.  
  
Shaking his head in bewilderment the man walked back to his house muttering.  
  
"Rangers are queer folk and make no mistake."  
  
If said ranger had heard the mumbled comment he made no sign and instead continued following the tracks. Now that he had found them again he meant to try and put as little distance between him and the creature as possible to make up for the time he had lost. Luckily for him the dry bear wasteland had preserved the prints well and he found no difficulty in following them.  
  
For several days he crossed the plains, running only in daytime so as not to miss anything important and he encountered no further set backs, even the few streams that crossed the area didn't hinder him because they were narrow and he could see that the creature had walked straight across as the thinness of the streams meant that he could see the footprints on the other side.  
  
Sadly when he reached the borders of Lorien his bad luck kicked in again and he saw that the creature had yet again taken to the treetops.  
  
//Why me? It's not like he knew he was being followed so why would he climb a tree? It's clear that someone hates me, I bet its Varda, I cursed using her name once when Legolas played a trick on me, and I expect this is my punishment\\  
  
Groaning out loud at his misfortune he climbed the tree at which the trail of tracks had ended and, as it was evening, he decided to wait once more till the morning, after all it had worked before in the Dimrill Dale, it might work here. Or at least that was his reasoning.  
  
He couldn't be bothered to build a flet that night, instead he found a fork in the huge Mallorn that he was perched on and curled up to get some rest.  
  
As the night passed he didn't notice the soft footed creature that discovered his presence but as the sun rose and he felt the sun warming the side of his face, he woke up with a yawn and stretched, narrowly missing having his eye poked out by one of the many the rather sharp arrows that were aimed at him.  
  
(Oooooooo, a cliffy, I think I'm getting the hang of this cliff-hangers. The ending of the first chapter was very nearly a cliff-hanger and I would say that that was definitely a cliff-hanger, although I'm sure that most of you can work out who the arrows belonged to. Anywho, now my brother and his friends are dancing around in rather a drunken manner, I have to go to Drama now, Namarie.) 


	3. Elves, Wine and Water

(A/N hello, I've just got back from my Nan's and you are so privileged because the first thing I've done since I got back is to write this chapter for you. Also my brother's friends, barring one who doesn't count as he's quiet, have gone so I can actually concentrate.)  
  
Aragorn blinked, and then he raised his hands slowly, lifting his head so that the elves could see who he was.  
  
"Peace Rúmil" he said, in their native tongue, recognising the elf at the front.  
  
Slowly the elves lowered their bows and Rúmil, after peering at the man in front of him smiled,  
  
"Aragorn, we have not seen you for a while, what brings you to Lorien? And why did you not come to the city instead of camping in the trees like an intruder?"  
  
"Well I haven't really come to Lorien for a visit, I've been tracking someone for quite a while now, and yesterday the tracks led to the bottom of this tree and then disappeared, I was at a loss and decided to wait and see if morning would throw a new light on things."  
  
"What is this creature you have been tracking?" asked Rúmil seriously, "We may have seen it, not many things can get into this wood without our notice"  
  
"It was the creature Gollum, a small black being, it is almost a miniature version of a human, only years of bearing evil has made him twisted and almost unrecognisable"  
  
The elves considered this for a few minutes and then one of them said softly said something to Rúmil who nodded and turned back to the ranger and said.  
  
"According to Herendil, a few months ago now a creature of that description was seen along the borders near the Anduin, the sentries there shot at it, but by some luck he managed to dodge them. He dived into the river and swam down towards the borders of the forest. The elves followed him and saw him climb out of the river onto the eastern shores once he had past out from under the borders. As he did not seem to have done any harm the guards did not bother trying to catch it. Does this sound like your quarry?"  
  
"It does" Aragorn said sighing, it sounded like Gollum was making his way to Mordor and Aragorn did not especially wish to go there.  
  
"Will you not come to the city, if only for a day or two, you look weary and could rest there?"  
  
Aragorn turned to face the direction of Caras Galadhon; he could just smell the sweet scent of Niphredil and Elanor wafting on the breeze. His heart urged him to go, it was almost certain that Arwen would be there, but then he sighed once more and turned to face the direction of the Anduin.  
  
"I cannot, I must make haste, do you have any food with you that I could have, I am running short of supplies?"  
  
The elves searched their packs and quickly came up with a handful of five or six packets of lembas. After handing them over another elf, Aiwendil, handed over a small bottle. Aragorn looked at it curiously before taking of the lid and sniffing it. He grinned suddenly and turned to the elf.  
  
"Hannon lle Aiwendil, Tanya farnuva" (Thank you Aiwendil, that will suffice) Inside the bottle was around a gallon of Lothlorien's spiced wine. Aragorn was always remembered in Lorien by the fact that when he had first visited the city his brother had 'accidentally' given Aragorn a bit too much of it. The result was one very drunk ranger staggering round the forest, and some of the things he did he doubted would ever be forgotten by the elves. And since they were immortal that meant they were going to be remembered for ever.  
  
As if to prove this Rúmil, who had caught the scent of the wine smiled at the human and said.  
  
"Just don't walk into any hunting traps this time and end up hanging upside down all night. There might not be anyone to rescue you from any orc bands that happen to be roaming the area this time."  
  
Aragorn just groaned, he would never live that down.  
  
"I will try my hardest to resist the temptation to almost get myself killed. It'll be hard but I'm sure I'll manage it somehow."  
  
After thanking the elves once more for their kindness, he bade them farewell and started out once more, taking a quick swig of the wine when he thought that he was out of sight of the elves. A soft snicker from somewhere above him spoiled that theory and he muttered under his breath.  
  
"Prissy elves"  
  
The soft response from above him of  
  
"Scummy human" finished that conversation and chuckling lightly he carried on his way.  
  
Unlike in the Dimrill Dale, when he had wanted to leave as quickly as possible, he walked leisurely under the trees, enjoying the feel of the sun shining down through the trees as he went. He didn't encounter many more elves, or at least he didn't see or hear any. Of course that didn't mean that there weren't any there, it meant that if there were they didn't want to be seen. That suited the human fine as he was quite content to walk on his own.  
  
Several hours later when he reached the Anduin he finally saw another elf when the sentinels guarding the borders stepped forward.  
  
"Creoso, mellonamin, (welcome my friend) Rúmil sent word that you would be coming, one of the guards here saw where the creature you are tracking got out of the river, he will lead you to it" the elf speaking was Orophin, the brother of Rúmil and Haldir.  
  
"Hannon lle, where is Haldir today, he is normally with one of you but I have not seen him yet"  
  
At this the elves started snickering lightly and Orophin solemnly replied.  
  
"Alas, several days ago he decided it would be a good idea to attempt to trick the Lady Arwen, sadly for him she found out about the trick and turned the trick around, he ended up with a broken nose and a fractured wrist, the Lady Galadriel deemed it wise for him to stay in the city for a few days. Aragorn chuckled appreciatively at the tale and then an elf stepped forward.  
  
"I will now take you to where the creature went, we would normally cross the river by a rope bridge but we will go by boat now."  
  
Gratefully the Dúnedan climbed into the boat and after calling farewell to the other elves he took up a paddle and they crossed the river. They reached the other side in minutes and the elf leapt nimbly out of the boat, followed more slowly by Aragorn. The elf, whose name was Aldarin, led the man down the river side until they came to a bend in the river and the Mallorn trees ended and were replaced by the ordinary trees of the woods. They had left Lorien now. Suddenly Aldarin pointed to the ground.  
  
"There, see those tracks, that is where the creature went, you can smell his foul scent here as well."  
  
"You may be able to smell it but I cant" said Aragorn, grinning as he stooped down to examine the prints. "I can however see his tracks, these are indeed those of my prey, thank you for your help."  
  
"Lle creoso, quel marth (You are welcome, good luck) I hope you find what you are searching for"  
  
"Namarie" Aragorn called as he ran off on the trail once more.  
  
(A/N, well there you have today's chapter, I can know say that I own some characters, that's really good, I've never owned characters before. I've always had to borrow them. But now I own three elves. In case you are wondering what their names mean it is written below.  
  
Aldarin- well Aldarion means son of trees, but that sounded to much like Eldarion, the name of Aragorn's son so I kept Alder, which I think means trees and then just added in on the end to make more long and elvish sounding.  
  
Aiwendil- Lover of Birds  
  
Herendil- Fortune Friend. I thought this one was quite appropriate, fortunately for Aragorn he had seen Gollum so that was a bit of fortune on Aragorn's part.  
  
Anyway like I said this is the end GOODBYE. (Slips on ring and vanishes in a flash of green light supplied by your friendly neighbourhood Maiar. No not Tom Bombadil or Goldberry, the other friendly neighbourhood Maiar. You know Gandalf.) Ok Namarieâº) 


	4. More Water and More Wine

(Hi, I've left it for a while, I'm sorry, I've been preoccupied by my falling into Middle Earth fic, and my new fic Shadow of Evil, but as I have writers block on both of those I am going back to the stories that I haven't been on for a while. so here we have chapter 4 of Hunting Gollum, the one review that I had last time I checked my reviews will be answered at the end of this chapter. Anyone else who reviewed but whose review I haven't got I am very sorry.  
  
Aragorn shivered in his sleep and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. After he had left Lothlorien he had been trailing Gollum along the river side, all had been going well until now.  
  
Other than a run in with a very small group of orcs, and a similar run in with a slightly larger group of wargs he had not had any obstacles. Now however he had a problem, and one that he did not really know how to resolve. Well actually he knew exactly what he needed to do; he was just loathe to do it.  
  
He was on the west side of the river and had arrived at the falls of Rauros, as he had expected the tracks stopped on the riverbank, confirming his growing suspicion of exactly where Gollum was going. That in itself was not a problem, since the problem of the Ring was down to his relatives, or so the ranger believed, he was determined to do whatever he could to help solve the problem. Even if that meant going to Mordor himself, after all he had been there once before and had survived.  
  
No, the problem was crossing the river, he had no boat to use, he had refused the one offered to him by the elves because he hadn't wanted to miss any tracks that were on the land and so he had only one way of crossing the wide expanse of water. He would have to swim, and that was something that really didn't appeal to him.  
  
He was good at swimming, but he knew that the current would be strong, and he didn't relish the idea of walking around in wet clothes for the rest of the day, nor did he want to get all of his supplies wet and he wasn't sure how he could prevent that.  
  
He had decided to wait until the morning to cross the river, as he knew that he would have to and so was currently fast asleep, dreaming of drowning, a topic that did nothing to appease his apprehensive views on the next days activities. Finally however his dreams ended and he settled down to a much needed sleep.  
~~~~~~~ The sun shone brightly the next day, its warming glow awakening the sleeping ranger. As he rose, yawning slightly he sent a silent prayer of thanks to Arien the Maiar of the sun.  
  
//At least I should dry off quicker at this rate\\  
  
He thought to himself as he got ready.  
  
Aragorn searched through his pack, hoping to find what he was looking for. For once he was in luck, rolled up at the bottom was a square of waterproof oil cloth. He unfolded it and spread it out on the ground, and then he took everything that could have been damaged by the water out of the bag and laid them in the cloth. Next he stripped to the waist and put the clothes he had removed onto the cloth as well.  
  
//That way I should at least have something dry to wear, even if the rest is wet\\  
  
Tying the bundle up so that no water could get in he put it back into his rucksack and put the bag onto his back. Staring glumly out over the sparkling blue water he walked to the river bank, strode out into the water until he was waist deep, and then struck out strongly, shivering at the coldness of the water. The current was strong and seemed intent on dragging the man over the falls but Aragorn fought against, refusing to allow himself to be pulled over to his death.  
  
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity he felt sand at his fit again and he stood up, shaking the water out of his hair in a way that was scarily reminiscent of a dog. Walking unsteadily out of the river, he was rather worn out by the swim, he flopped down on the sandy bank, taking a swig of the wine that Aiwendil had given him and that he had been saving till now.  
  
Aragorn laughed as he remembered once again the last time he had sampled the wine. He hadn't found it funny at the time, indeed just thinking about some of the injuries that had been the result of that night made him wince, but know he could definitely see the humour in it. He regretted having been anywhere near Arwen in his incapacitated state, he couldn't remember everything he had said to her, but from what he could recall it had been rather embarrassing and unfortunate. This was also confirmed by the fact that the lady in question had burst into hysterical giggles everytime she had seen him the next day, something that he found highly unnerving.  
  
He had been swigging continuously while musing these thoughts, though he hadn't noticed the fact, and so when he looked down at the bottle he was a little surprised to find that he only had half left. He replaced the lid and put it back into his pack, taking out the waterproof package this time.  
  
On opening it he saw to his relief that no water had seeped in and he got out one of the wafers of lembas and munched away at it. The waybread gave him strength almost immediately and he had eaten his full after the first half.  
  
Next he took his shirt back out of the bag and replaced it, glad at the warmth it gave his body which, despite the hotness of the sun, had been shivering after its sojourn in the icy, flowing waters of the Anduin. That done he put his worn leather overcoat on over the top and was ready to set out once more.  
  
Finding Gollum's track proved to be slightly difficult, some of them had been washed away by the rising of the river in a recent bout of rain but eventually he came across them completely by accident. Aragorn had been walking along the edge of the bank and had not noticed the large root, until he tripped over it that was. He was about to curse it for getting in the way until he realised that he had fallen right next to the unmistakable prints of his quarry.  
  
At that point he had, rather to his embarrassment, (though he blamed the wine) dropped to his knees next to the root and started kissing it, praising the valar for the wonderfulness of said twig. Then, upon realising what he had been doing he got up rather hastily, looked around to make sure that nobody had seen him, something that wasn't very likely due to the fact that he was in an area that was deserted other than the birds, and had carried on following the tracks, eager to catch up on Gollum and end his tiring quest as quickly as possible.  
  
(So there you have, Lady Arwen beware, you have a rival, watch out for tree roots, they may steal your man. Ok to the person who reviewed, I am sorry if I got your name wrong, I got a review for another story who had a similar name to yours, I cant remember if it was Gruffy or Grumpy who reviewed this story but I think it was the latter so I will address the reply to you.  
  
Grumpy-Thank you for the review, I agree, Aragorn really has got the bad end of the deal. Even though he and Denethor never got on I still feel he would much rather be in Gondor than tracking a slimy horrible creature. Or better yet nin Lothlorien with Arwen, maybe he can visit her again when he has given Gollum to the elves of Mirkwood, we shall see.  
  
Yet again anyone else who reviewed and I just didn't get it in time I apologise, I haven't got the internet at my house so I cant go online and check for reviews otherwise I would. Don't blame me, blame ada nin. Namarie mellyn.) 


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